Using the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) 5, you can easily customize, deploy, and manage your Internet Explorer packages. The IEAK includes the Internet Explorer Customization wizard, the IEAK Profile Manager, which enable you to build and maintain custom packages of Internet Explorer 5 that are tailored to meet the needs of your users. You can easily specify user setup options and control most browser and component features.
The following sections describe new and enhanced features that streamline the process of deploying Internet Explorer 5.
The Internet Explorer Customization wizard has been enhanced to provide a simpler, more organized interface for creating custom packages of Internet Explorer 5. Using the new Feature Selection screen in Stage 1 of the wizard, you can select the features that you want to customize. All other feature pages will not be shown, so you can more quickly customize only the features you want. For example, if you want to customize only the Favorites, you can select this option, and you will see only the required wizard pages and the wizard pages necessary for customizing Favorites.
The following illustration shows the Feature Selection screen.
The Internet Explorer Customization wizard includes the following new and enhanced options for setting up the browser:
For more information about browser options, see Chapter 15, "Running the Internet Explorer Customization Wizard," or review the IEAK Help files.
You can use the Internet Explorer Customization wizard or IEAK Profile Manager to do the following:
You can also configure advanced settings for components such as Microsoft Outlook® Express.
You have the option to lock down certain features and functions. When features are locked down, they either don't appear, or they appear dimmed on the user's desktop. For more information about system policies and restrictions, see Appendix E, "Setting System Policies and Restrictions."
The following illustration shows the System Policies and Restrictions screen.
When you create custom packages of Internet Explorer, you can use the Connection Manager Administration Kit (CMAK) to guide you through the process of customizing and configuring the Microsoft Connection Manager dialer. You can create a customized dialer to provide users with a quick and easy way to connect to the Internet or intranet.
You can use the CMAK to include custom icons, tailored help files, and special animated graphics to control the appearance of your Connection Manager dialer. The CMAK creates a self-extracting executable (.exe) file that installs the customized dialer on your users' computers. When users click the custom icon to connect to the Internet, the custom-dialer dialog box appears. For more information about the CMAK, see Chapter 14, "Customizing Connection Management and Settings."
If you are an Internet service provider (ISP), you can specify that your customers use the Internet Connection wizard (ICW) to sign up and configure their computers for Internet services. You can also customize the connection and server sign-up options for your customers and create server-based solutions that exchange information with the ICW screens.
The IEAK Toolkit includes sample code for building an ICW sign-up server on different platforms. For more information about using the ICW for server-based sign-up, see Chapter 20, "Implementing the Sign-up Process."
Internet Explorer 5 includes the following enhancements to browser security:
The following illustration shows the Content Advisor.
For more information about these security options, see Chapter 6, "Digital Certificates," and Chapter 8, "Content Ratings and User Privacy."
The Internet Explorer Customization wizard is part of the Microsoft Office 2000 Custom Installation wizard (CIW), which enables you to customize and deploy Internet Explorer and Office 2000 simultaneously. The CIW determines whether the IEAK is installed, makes the necessary changes in the registry, and then starts the Internet Explorer Customization wizard. This greatly enhances and simplifies the process of deploying and managing both productivity and Web client tools. For more information about the CIW and deploying Office 2000, see the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit.
Internet Explorer 5 can be deployed in more than 26 languages, and you can easily switch between languages after installation. The following language and performance features make it easier to view international content:
You can deploy Internet Explorer 5 on Microsoft Windows 16-bit, Windows-32 bit, and UNIX platforms. If your organization uses several different platforms, you can deploy and maintain a separate version of Internet Explorer 5 for each platform.
Internet Explorer 5 provides a single, standards-based set of technologies for Web authoring, browsing, communication, and collaboration for all supported platforms. The HTML rendering engine for Internet Explorer on Windows and UNIX platforms was derived from the same code base, so you can be sure that content developed for one platform renders the same on all platforms.
Internet Explorer 5 has also been optimized to support each individual platform. You can take advantage of platform-specific functionality, as well as integration with platform-specific applications. For more information about supported platforms, see Chapter 4, "Working with Different Platforms."
